Sly Cooper's Adventures in the Seventeenth Century
by Nocturnal Shinobi
Summary: Takes place where 'Thieves in Time' left off. Sly lands in Egypt, but in the year 1615. He is catapulted into a world of danger and adventure as he heads to find the only one that can help him get back home. Meanwhile, Carmelita and the rest of the Cooper gang cope with Sly's absence while trying to solve the mystery of where and when Sly is in. Feedback will be appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

**I was really disappointed in the ending of "Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time". I was really banking on receiving closure to the series. The series is great, but it just needs a happy ending, ya'know? Carmelita was even starting to realize her feelings for Sly! This is sorta supposed to pick up where "Thieves in Time" left off and might be somewhat spoiler-ish to anyone who has not played the game yet. I wasn't planning on publishing this story at this time, but my friend and fellow Fanfiction writer, Bubblewrap Leech, wanted me to publish it. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, characters unrecognized from any of the games are only for this story and are a product of my imagination.**

Sly opens his groggy eyelids and wakes up with the sun beating down on him. He sees a blurry image of his family cane in his hand. He grips it tightly. He lifts himself off of the ground and stands on the sand. There are pieces of Le Paradox's blimp scattered everywhere. There is no way that is going to work again, unfortunately for Sly. But, what catches his eyes wasn't the huge pile of rubble, it is the ginormous sphinx standing in the desert. But, the pyramids behind it even dwarfed the sphinx.

Without much thought, he has a rough estimation of where he is. The pyramids kind of gave it away. But, the bigger question is, when is he? He needs a better look around. He runs to the sphinx and climbs up the paw and climbs up the leg and up the jackal head's headdress. He stands upon the jackal's snout and blocks out the sun's blinding rays with his hand to help scan the area.

From the left to his right, after what looked like never ending sand, he sees is a long river about a quarter mile from his position. His smile returns to his face. He jumps off the sphinx and dashes towards the river.

_...::::_

He finally reaches the river. His throat is dry, he is panting, his head is sweating bullets, and a sticky feeling surrounds his entire body. As much as he would like to take a dip in the river to wash off, he just dips his hands in and runs the wet hand through his hair to cool off. He then cups his hands together to pick up some of the water and drinks it. The baking sun of the desert is killing him and the wind whipping hot air into his face isn't helping.

His eyes look at the river and can see that the river is flowing to his left. His eyes follow a piece of driftwood following the current. Wait, wood? In the desert? He keeps his gaze on the wood. As the wood moved he can see a row of buildings down the river. An Egyptian town? He found civilization! Even for someone who's not interested in history, this could be interesting to check out. He follows the river to the town.

Despite how far he is from the town, he can see that the Egyptian town has a large adobe brick fortress within the city. As he nears, he pulls out his binocucom and zooms in to see guards holding muzzle loaded muskets at the top of the fortress. He is obviously not going to meet his ancestor Slytunkhamen anytime soon. The time period doesn't fit.

When he reaches the edge of the city, Sly runs towards a building and climbs up a rope that heads for the roof. He stands on top of the rooftop, sets the shaft end of his cane on the floor, and rests his arm on his cane. His eyes search and scan everything he can about the town, especially for the dark spots and alleyways. The first thing that is on his mind, other than food, is the fact that he needs to know where he is exactly and when all this is.

He looks up at the guarded fortress with a growing smile. "Looks like I'm gonna have to do a little breaking at entering for answers," he says.

His smiling is interrupted by the heavy gurgling of his stomach. He grabs his tummy and sighs. He sets off to look for something to eat.

* * *

Around the evening streets of Paris, a vixen in her car cruises and patrols the city. Carmelita was starting to get bored until she receives a message over the police radio of a thief who just broke into a bank. She jumps at the opportunity and speeds up to the location.

She sounds the siren and tries to move her way around the traffic.

When she arrives to the bank, she quickly jumps out of her car and takes her trusty shock pistol out of the holster. She goes through the broken glass door and holds up the gun and a flashlight. "Freeze, criminal!", she barks. The light from the flashlight quickly scans the room.

She sees a silhouette of someone and she points the flashlight at it to see a scared weasel. The culprit drops his loot and makes a break for a nearby window. Carmelita does not allow this by carefully aiming her gun at the runaway and fireing the pistol. She gets a direct hit on the weasel's leg which successfully incapacitates him.

She runs over the the crawling victim and grabs his wrists to slap a pair of handcuffs on. A pair of other officers come rushing in only to find 'Old Ironsides' already beat them to the catch. Carmelita grabs the gruff of the criminal and the two officers take him and put them in their cruiser and enter to car after.

She glances at her watch to see the time. It's eight-forty five. She might as well go home for today. She walks back out of the bank and gets back into her poorly parked car and drives off to her apartment where she hopes to end her day.

_...::::_

She walks to her apartment door and unlocks it. She opens and enters then closes the door behind her, double checking the lock.

She stretches her arms up to release a few of the knots in her muscles. This week has not been kind on her body. Her shoulders are stiff beyond hell, her legs are sore from chasing criminals who don't want to go quietly, and she can feel blisters coming on to her feet. She never thought she'd see the day when she gets tired from catching criminals.

She is exhausted, physically and emotionally. She would usually go out to the Paris canals to investigate further on the ringtail's whereabouts, but tonight is a lazy feeling kind of night. Ringtail. The name rings in her ears.

She takes her boots off and heads to the bathroom to wash her hands and face. She turns on the sink and rubs her hands together the remove the dirt off of her hands. She cups her hands to catch the cool flowing water and her brings it up to her face. The water drips down her cheeks and into the sink. She grabs the towel that's hanging near the mirror and wipes her face dry. As she takes the towel off her eyes, a photo taped to the side of right side of the mirror catches her eye. It's the photo of Sly kissing her on the cheek she found during her first investigation of the sight of Le Paradox's crashed blimp. Her eyes glisten in the light as they moisten.

She doesn't want to admit it too anyone, but she dearly misses Sly and wants him back for more reasons than one.

She exits the bathroom and walks towards her bed to relax. She flops onto her bed and sighs heavily.

She looks up at he ceiling. Her eyelids get heavier and heavier to the point that they close. The last image in her mind is an image of Sly flashing his signature charming smile. The same smile that can melt any girl's heart in an instant. The same smile that she wishes from the bottom of her heart to see again.

She can remember clearly the events of the last time she saw Sly. When she was stuck in the container with Sly, she was pleasantly surprised to see how focused he was to taking Le Paradox down. It was one of the very few times she saw him acting serious. Based on her previous realization of Sly fighting for justice the same as her, she was able to found it in her heart to see Sly as more than just a thief or a man. She regrets that she didn't even have enough time to tell him her feelings.

She opens her eyes, realizing that she's falling asleep without her pajamas on or without taking a shower yet. She sits up on her bed. She grabs her night wear to change into after the shower.

She enters the bathroom and turns the shower on to let it warm up before she steps in. She begins to removes, piece by piece, her worn and sweaty clothes. She steps into the shower and she immediately feels more relaxed. She allows the warm running water to flow in her hair. She washes away the stickiness of the sweat on her head and then her shoulders and collar. She remembers how sweaty and tired she would've gotten after her chases with Cooper. Damn, Sly is even on her mind when she is in the shower. "Dios, cuando me encuentro el amor, usted lo toma de mí. ¿Por qué?" she says to herself.

_...::::_

She gets out of the lightly steaming bathroom. She is wearing her pajamas. She drops her sweaty, dirty clothes in the basket so she can wash them later.

She begins walking over to her room when she sees her keys laying on the table. She knows better than to put them there. She grabs them and starts to walk to her room to put them where they belong. She stops midway and looks at her keys. What if there is something new at the crash site that just resurfaced out of the water? What if there is a piece of evidence that can finally bring Sly back?

She can't just stay home while Cooper is out doing who-knows-what at whatever time period. She grabs her coat and puts it over her pajamas. She opens the door and locks the door. She walks back to the parking lot, gets in her car and starts it.

She doesn't care if she feels like being lazy, she refuses to give up yet and she won't give up ever.

* * *

Bentley removes his glasses and rubs his eyes from tirelessly crunching numbers into his computer. He has went through every page and used everything at his disposal. His computer, his textbooks, his 'reliable' sources are just getting him nowhere fast. He has not even found a place to start from.

As much as it pains him to admit it, his technology might not be able to fix this dilemma. He's going to have to find another way to find information about Sly's current whereabouts.

He looks out of the window of his room to see the night sky. He has been working so hard at trying to find information that he lost track of time. Hell, he doesn't remember what day it is.

He barely noticed while he was at his computer, but he is parched. He pushes his wheelchair to the fridge in his room and pulls out a bottle of water and gulps down a much needed drink.

He wheels himself to the television set and turns it on. He changes the channel to the professional wrestling channel to check on Murray's doings. Murray is obviously just keeping his fighting skills sharp. Murray wants Sly back home as much as he does.

Speaking of those who want Sly back, he hasn't seen Carmelita lately. He knows that she is doing her best to juggle her work and playing her part in trying to help get Sly back.

Bentley's mind races for any possible solutions. Is there anything that he can do? This is more than just any ordinary head scratcher. This whole time, he has been doing nothing except looking for a place to start. This is going to be a big challenge.

**So, yeah. First chapter. The game didn't give me the closure that I so desired so I'm attempting to create closure of my own. But, the way 'Thieves in Time' ended made it seem as if there's going to be another installment in the series. If Sucker Punch is making another Sly game, I beg for a happy ending! Anyway, I may have issues with my verb tenses, but that it something I will go back and fix eventually. The next chapter will be the Sly's next day and he will do a little investigating in the Egyptian fortress.**


	2. Into the Fortress

**Second chapter. I'm not planning on making this a long story. I hope it won't be anyway. Sly has to infiltrate the Egyptian fortress while Bentley and the rest of the characters try to find answers.**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, characters unrecognized from any of the games are only for this story and are a product of my** **imagination.**

Carmelita wakes up the most annoying sound of all time, the alarm clock. She groans as she picks her still sleepy body off of the warm cozy bed. She turns the alarm off.

She sits up on her bed and stretches her arms outward to wake herself up. It seems to have an opposite effect as her eyes try to rest again. She shakes her head then rubs her eyes. She gets out of her bed and begins the long trek to the bathroom.

She enters the bathroom and turns on the lights. The needles of light makes Carmelita have to squint. She slowly opens her eyes and gets adjusted to the light.

She turns the faucet on and fills up a cup and turns the faucet off after the cup is filled. She grabs her toothbrush and tube of toothpaste and applies a generous amount of toothpaste on the bristles. She begins to brush her teeth.

_...::::_

She exits the bathroom feeling refreshed after brushing her teeth and taking a quick shower to wake herself up.

She returns back to her bedroom and picks out her usual top and jacket. She then grabs a miniskirt which she found herself to be wearing more often lately other than the pants she would've worn... before Sly had his 'amnesia'. She removes her sleep wear and slips into her work clothes.

She then grabs the keys that were next to the lamp beside her bed and exits to start work.

* * *

Sly is patiently waiting for the sun to set. There are only a few short minutes until total darkness. He waits on a distant rooftop with a clear vantage point of the fortress. The building he resides upon is an abandoned building which he made his hideout.

As he waits, he chews on a lump of bread to help quell his stomach. The bread is ridiculously bland but it was the first thing he grabbed so he has no one else to blame but himself.

He wears the outfit he obtained while in Ancient Arabia. He left his normal blue garb inside the hideout along with the slightly tacky vest and bandanna. He figured that he didn't need all of the outfit since it all wasn't needed to blend in with the locals.

Only half of the sun is shining in the horizon. He take that as his cue and wastes no time. He bites and holds on to the bread with his mouth and jumps to the adjacent rooftop. His target: the fortress. His objective: hope to find information on where and when in the world he is. He sprints his way over the rooftops avoiding all of the people that are still awake below.

_...::::_

The fortress is approaching as he runs tirelessly. He stops on a rooftop so he can get a better view of the place. He pulls out his binocucom so he can scope out the area. He looks to the left, to the right, at the parapets, at the bridges leading to the entrance, and at the man made water way that surrounds and separates the fortress from the rest of the city.

He notices that the guards take shifts and they only guard entrances, not windows. That should give him a huge advantage. He's never been the one for the direct approach. However, the only entrance into the fortress is the drawbridge leading to the entrance. Or at least, it's the only _civil_ way of entering.

He keeps looking for any other way inside. Why, if it weren't for that Le Paradox he'd still have his paraglider.

There are a few guards watching to make sure no one but the other guards can cross the drawbridge. Sly thinks about taking out a guard and taking the suit to disguise himself as a guard. But, that would mean that he has to look for a guard to take out first and the possibility of another guard noticing him is too high.

He's just going to have to sneak in and make sure no soul sees him. He takes his chances and leaps off of the edifice he was standing on and onto the dirt ground.

He checks his surroundings and sees that it's pretty much a straight shot to the drawbridge. The guards seems so much closer in his binocucom. He sneaks his way towards his heading while being wary of any guards that may pop up at a moment's notice.

He stops at the point before entering the light of the guards' lanterns. He slowly steps back and makes his way into a shadowy corner. "Great. Now what do I do?"

His acute hearing picks up a loud rolling. He pokes his head out of the corner to see a horse drawn cart driven by a small jackal. He sees his opportunity and he walks quickly to the back of the cart. He uses his Shadow Power ability to turn himself invisible to the guards' lights.

The drawbridge's chains let the bridge down. Once the bridge hits the ground the jackal waves the reins to tell the horses to start moving. Sly follows the cart from behind making sure that his Shadow Power doesn't falter.

Once he is inside of the fortress, the drawbridge's chains begin to crank up. He takes a look at the inner workings of the fortress. It seems as if there are enough muskets, flintlocks, cannons, cannonballs, kegs of black powder, and ammunition for an full scale war. He is thankful he didn't get caught.

He stops his invisibility and quietly sneaks his way around and hides behind the ammunition. He thinks about his current situation. He's in a fully armed fortress, he has no idea what time he is in, and he's hiding behind a stack of boxes full of lead balls. First order of business, he needs to find more information. He comes out of hiding and sneaks around in the shadows and desperately opens the first door that he touches. He enters and closes the door and he finds himself inside of the hallways inside of the walls of the fortress.

The dark hallway is only lit up by a series of lamps hanging on the walls. He walks down the hallway cautiously. He goes up a flight of stairs to the next floor. He keeps moving along.

Sly keeps his hand over his cane which is resting on his back. A door swings open and he nearly gives it a kiss. A guard comes out and walks to the right while completely oblivious to Sly's presence. Sly lets out a sigh of relief.

Sly decides that there must be something in that room that the guard came out of so he opens the door and sees that the room is empty. He enters and slowly closes the door behind him. He turns around in the poorly lit room to see high shelves filled with rolled paper. He takes a lamp off of the wall to aid his search. He puts the lamp near the wall farthest from the door. The wall is covered with maps. What luck!

He doesn't know how much time he has before another guard comes to check what's going on. He begins his search with the largest map on the wall. It shows all of Egypt and, more importantly, the city he is in. He is in Northern Cairo. The maps are, unfortunately, all written in what he can see as Arabic. The only bits that he can decipher are the numbers. He examines the map and on the top right-hand corner has a number that catches his eye. It says '1615'. Could it be the year 1615? That may explain the kind of technology the guards are armed with.

He wastes no more time. He takes his binocucom out and takes a picture of the map and saves it in the internal memory. He hears no footsteps from outside so he decides to look through some of the other papers on the shelves. He hastily grabs a few and lays them out on the table. He sees that there are nothing but maps. The room he is in must be a navigation room.

He finds a few maps of Cairo and of the ports. The nearest docking port is North of Cairo on the Mediterranean Sea about 150 kilometers from the fortress. He rolls up the maps he deemed helpful and tucked them in his belt around his waist.

He finishes up his research and heads to the door. He carefully turns the nob and peeks through the door's small opening. He sees nothing but the seemingly forever stretching hallway. He pokes his head out to examine the other side of the hallway. Nothing is to be seen. He thanks his lucky stars and exits. He closes the door behind him and leaves the scene as if he was never there.

Sly follows his steps back the way he came from. He descends the same flight of stairs and makes it to the same door he entered through. He slowly opens the door and retraces his way through the shadows and to the munitions boxes.

A couple of guards pass by the boxes he is hiding behind. Sly sinks back into the shadows. He lightly bumps into something to his right. He looks to see a rack lined with muskets. With the limited amount of light he had, he can read the stamped locks of the muskets that are written in English. They read 'British 1615'.

He now confirms that he is in the year 1615 or somewhere near that year. He gets back on his feet and looks around the inner workings of the fortress once again. The guards are still patrolling. As he looks around, a new problem emerges. How is he going to get out?

He knows that if he stays hidden he won't get out so he slips out away from the boxes and finds a convenient rope that leads to the uppermost floor. He climbs the rope to the very top and jumps off and stands on the top floor.

At the top, there aren't many guards inside. Most are outside overlooking the city of Cairo while enjoying the fresh air and resting their arms on the parapets. Some guards aren't even doing their job. They are taking turns sleeping and guarding. Sly sneaks his way outside and passes loud snoring. He is careful of every step he takes making sure that he doesn't disturb the large bugger's slumber.

He sees no way off of the fortress and it's the man-made water way that surrounds the fortress's fault. Not only did he not know how to swim, he didn't want the maps the get wet and ruined. Boy, he misses his paraglider. He hears the fluttering of flags in the wind. He turns his head up to the noise. There's a flag above him on top of a guard tower. His mind starts to formulate ideas. There's sure to be a guard up there.

He finds a ladder that leads up to the post and ever-so-slightly peeks. There's is most certainly a guard up there. Luckily, he's facing the opposite way. Sly seizes the opportunity and climbs the rest of the way up and takes his cane out of the holster on his back. He raises the hooked end up and gives it a hard under swing sending the guard in the air. Sly catches the guard by the collar and swings his cane down slamming the guard to the ground. The guard is knocked out and down for the count. He doesn't know when he will ever have another chance to do so so he pickpockets the guard for some money. He won't know when he might need it. He then takes the guard's satchel and dumps the contents out onto the floor. He then takes the maps from his waist and puts them into the satchel.

Sly then gets started at lowering the flag. He takes the flag off of the pole. He holds two corners of the flag in one hand and the other two corners in the other hand. He waves the flag in the air to see if it might work for parachuting down. It seems adequate as long as there are no holes in it. He takes a step on one of the parapets and brings the other foot up. He takes a breath and jumps. He raises his arms up the let the flag catch air. The flag balloons out and Sly's descent slows significantly. His idea is a success. He begins to steer his way onto the nearest rooftop.

He lands fairly softly and he sprints on the rooftops to return to his hideout.

**In the next chapter, Sly will finally get going and the adventure will finally begin... sort of. It's really hard to think of what the gang and Carmelita are doing in the present day. All they can do is look for clues that don't lead to anywhere and miss Sly. **


	3. Out of Egypt

**Third chapter. I've been drawing a lot lately so I didn't get to write so much. That's my fault. Well, let's see what Sly gets himself into with the knowledge of the stolen maps.**

**Disclaimer: ********I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, characters unrecognized from any of the games are only for this story and are a product of my** **imagination.**

Sly wakes up to the blades of light piercing his eyes. He sits up on his makeshift mattress. His morning breath starts to annoy him, but there is not much he can do about it.

He stands up and stretches to welcome the new day. He walks over the large pail of water he filled yesterday before the sun began to set. He picks up the cup that is floating on the water and scoops up some water to drink. It would've been nice to have brushed his teeth, but that's the least of his problems. He looks over to the pile of maps that laid on the table he took from the fortress last night.

He takes all of the maps he took from last night's heist at the fortress, puts them back into the satchel he took, and heads out of the door to find a spot to read the maps while he eats the rest of his bread from yesterday which he kept in his pouch strapped around his leg. He looks back at the now vacant room knowing that it's the last time he will see it.

He stands in front of the door and lets the warm sun kiss his face. He steps out and blends in with the locals and starts walking to look for a suitable place to rest and to read his maps.

Almost immediately, he feels as if he's being looked at. And sure enough, he is being noticed by every girl he passes. Sly has always been the flirty kind of guy, but in this place he is actually knowing what it feels like to be the shy guy. He tries not to look at them, but he can see that he's attracting attention from a wide spectrum of the girls. He can see female jackals, mongooses, cats, genets, and foxes eyeing him.

He tries to hide his flustering face. He hears cluttering to his left and looks to the sound. A young woman tripped and fell because she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. Sly rushes over the the female genet and kneels down and offers her a hand of help. "Are you okay?"

The girl lifts herself up from the ground. "أنا بخير، شكرا لكم." she says. Her words fly through Sly's ears. She looks up at Sly's face and her cheeks blush brightly.

Sly can see that she's speechless that he is near her. The girl reluctantly takes his hand and as he stands up, she helps herself back on feet. She brushes the dirt of of her clothes. Sly gives her a smile that reignites her fluster and she smiles back.

As he walks he starts questioning himself. Is he really _that_ attractive? He's actually never given too much thought on how he looked while he was on heists. He actually feels flattered knowing that girls find him attractive.

He looks at the shadows relative to the position of the sun. North is to his front. He remembers where the river is and that the river flows North. He takes out a map and looks at it. The nearest port is North on the Mediterranean Sea. Perfect. He tucks the map away and starts running towards where his instincts tell where the river is.

He speeds past street venders and people. He's not in the mood to wasting time. He sees an end to the city and starts to slow down to conserve his energy. He makes it to the edge of the city and comes to a halt.

He sees that nearby on the river's edge, there are several descent canoes that were used to travel along the river. They are all flipped upside down and the oars are resting in each of the canoes. He taps his lips with a fingertip as he thinks his plan over. He pops his knuckles and runs over to the nearest canoe. When he gets to it, he flips the canoe over, puts the oars in, and begins pushing it towards the river. The canoe proves to be quite heavier than he expected so musters up more force into his heaves. His feet begin to sink deeper into the sand as the canoe is being pushed. Finally, the boat is in the river and immediately starts to take the river's current. Sly jumps and lands in the canoe causing the canoe to rock back and forth. He steadies it and grabs the oars and begins to row the boat. He gently hums to tune to 'Row, Row, Row your Boat' as he paddles his newly acquired boat along the river's steady flow.

As he looks back at the town, he sees a group of cross fox girls on the top of a two story edifice. They seemed young and full of life. They are waving their goodbyes to him. The girls don't even know him and they are seeing him off. He shows his pearly whites and waves happily to the girls. He feels kind of shameful. It must be hard to notice someone and then realize that you might not ever see him again. Waving back to them is the least he could do.

As the girls and the town begins to dwindle away from him, he sighs and returns to his focus on the river. He lets the boat go at the whim of the river. He then takes a map out, unravels it out, and holds it in front of him. He sees on the map the river he is taking. He traces the river north to where the river splits apart. He traces the two paths up the map to find that they both lead to the Mediterranean Sea.

He can't read the Arabic, but he can see that the two paths lead to two different ports with English names. The one on the left is named Port Mallinson and the other is named Port Milverton. However, Port Milverton's name is written larger and bolder. It must mean that it's a larger port, right? He makes up his mind that when the river splits he will take the path on the right. He's going to see if there's a reason for this port to have such a large name.

He puts the maps back into the satchel and takes the oars back out and lays the paddles into the water and he paddles the boat to his new destination.

_...::::_

It's noon and Sly has taken the right path up towards Port Milverton. He draws nearer and nearer. However, he is squinting in the light of the sun. His face is red and he is missing a shirt.

The beads of sweat continues to run down his face while the sun endlessly beams it's baking light upon him. He scoops up some more water and drinks it to keep him hydrated. He then takes another scoop and pours it over his hair and lets the water run down his face. It's the only thing other than his determination that makes the desert heat bearable.

He begins to think that it would've been smarter to move during the night, but he can't complain about that right now. He closes his eyes takes a deep breath through his nostrils. His eyes open up and widen. He angles his head up and sniffs the air. The air has a smell that he hasn't smelled in a while. His raccoon nose detects something smelly. He can tell that he's getting close to something. He puts the oars back to work and he paddles to speed up his arrival.

After a few minutes, he sticks his nose back up and sniffs the air. It smells fishy, salty even. He can see wooden and stone buildings on the horizon. The buildings are a stark contrast from the adobe brick houses in the other town.

His ears perk up as the sound of bells coming from ahead of him ring in his ears. The smell is getting faintly stronger as he paddles closer.

The place seems to be very busy. Lots of people are carrying wooden crates. But the guys he is seeing aren't from around Egypt. They are wearing different clothing.

He paddles the canoe to the edge of the river and jumps onto land. He figures that he can go faster on foot and that the river has done its job. He fills his flask that is strapped to his belt with the river's clean, naturally filtered water. He doesn't know when he will get to drink clean water again with what he has planned out. He runs to see if the map is correct.

He arrives to a wooden sign that reads "Welcome to Port Milverton" in aged chipped paint. He looks around and realizes that he left his shirt on the canoe. He thinks nothing of it and readjusts the sling of the satchel that is resting on his shoulder. His nose sticks up and he sniffs the air once more. The pungent stench of day old caught fish. If he wasn't hungry the smell would sicken him.

He walks into the crowd without arousing suspicion. He takes in everything. He listens in on the people's conversations. He can hear a slew of languages including English and Spanish. He keeps walking among the busyness of the people.

Ahead, he sees the docked ships. The ships are massive. Some were larger and all were more majestic than the ones that were in Blood Bath Bay. He looks at the ships. The names of the ships gave away which country they belong to. One is named "Comerciante de España", another is called "Harpy of the Sea".

Then, he sees a ship that has hinges on the sides. That is something that none of the other ships possess. Could it be that it is not a merchant ship? Could there be cannons in it? He looks at the ship to see that it is named the "Ocean's Mistress". His curiosity fills his motive to enter the ship.

He finds a rope that is tethered to the ship and runs up the rope to the head of the ship. He makes his way onto the upper deck and finds the trapdoor that leads to the hold of the ship. The only source of illumination is the sun from outside and the few oil lamps that are hanging on the wooden beams. But that is all it took to let Sly see what is in the ship. Inside are a few cannons and a lot of ammunition for small arms. The hold however is more filled with foreign spices and trading materials. For an armed ship, it wasn't as big of a threat as the pirates from Blood Bath Bay.

His ears twitch to the sound of footsteps above his head. "Huh? Why's the hatch open?" he hears a man say. Sly thinks fast and hides behind a cannon near some pails of water. He doesn't dare poke his head out.

He hears the boots of another person. "Wadd'ya doin', Corkscrew?"

"I found this here hatch open'd when I got here. I wonde' if anyone came and stole any o' our goods now, ya'see?"

A short pause without speaking fell upon them. "Well, whoever or whatever it was, it seems to me that nothing was ta'en from us. It all seems fine to me. The rest of the crew is on its way. You migh' as well help me get the board."

"A'right. But I'm still puzzled."

Sly listens to the clacking of boots against the wooden planks of the ship get quieter as the crewmen walk away. The hatch is closed letting nearly no ambient light in. He stays near the cannons as he listens for the rest of the crew to arrive. He hears more boots walk above his head. He gets worried as he starts to wonder what these sailors might do to him. He's about to be a stowaway on their ship! there's no way off the ship or else he gets caught by the crew members that are boarding the ship!

The hatch opens up and crew members come down to begin unloading their earnings for the day. They carried trunks full of gold and silver. The last man dropped his trunk and sighs his relief out. "Finally. We made a killin' today!" He heads to the hatch and sticks his head out and yells. "A'righty then! We're ready to set sail!"

Sly feels the ship's weight shift a slight bit to the rear. The ship is no longer tethered the the dock. Now there is absolutely no way back onto land. He watches the crew start to do their jobs around the ship.

He finds a small window of opportunity as he picks up one of the pails of water. He stands up from the cannons and begins to walk about the hold of the ship with all of the other men. He opens the hatch and walks up the stairs and takes a step onto the upper deck. He looks around the ship to see where the port is. The ship already left the port and has already made good distance. Good enough distance that he can't jump back to shore and he's not about to find out what happens when he drops into the water.

The ship's crew is working on different jobs around the ship. From the top to the bottom, something is getting done. One of the crew members, a dog sailor along with three others, is hoisting the main sail and turns his head and looks at Sly. "Ay, you with the bucket! Come give us a 'and with this sail now will ya?" Sly drops his pail and dashes over to help the men. He grabs the rope and the four of them successfully hoist up the sail. Sly bends his back to loosen the muscles in his back. The dog crew member wipes the sweat from his forehead. "Ahh, thanks, lad. We really needed an extra hand but everyone else is busy." He offers a hand to shake."Name's Ron. You be one of the new recruits that the captain picked up today?"

Sly gladly shakes the hand. He couldn't believe his luck! That is perfect cover to stay on the ship safely. He clears his throat to answer the question. "Err, yeah, I just got recruited. My name's Sly."

Ron lets go of the handshake. "Well nice meetin' ya. Now, I've got to go help out with the other sails. We can use yer help. You comin'?"

Sly, seeing as he's made a new friend, goes with Ron to help with the sail job. He is sure going to earn his sea-legs from here on out.

**So, I don't update often. That's more my fault than anything. I can't really put my 100% into my writing due to bumps in the road such as school work and other miscellaneous reasons. This story might be one that will get updated really inconsistently. My next update might not be for a while. I'm trying to work on and finish my other fanfic.**


	4. Ship Life and Missing

**If anyone reading this story didn't know, I'm trying to work on two stories at the same time. One is a Sly cooper fanfic and the other is a Naruto fanfic. I really don't like working on more than one thing at once. Ironically, I find myself in that situation many times. All things aside, the fourth chapter is here!**

**Disclaimer: ****I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, characters unrecognized from any of the games are only for this story and are a product of my** **imagination.**

Nearly the end of the second day at sea on-board the Ocean's Mistress. Sly is finally finished swabbing the main deck along with the rest of the ship. He stands up and bends his back backwards to stretch. He takes a look out to the sunset over the sea. He breathes in the salty air and the scent of the newly washed ship.

It didn't take Sly long at all to get used to the sailor lifestyle. Already, he feels as if he is a genuine part of the crew. With the help of his new friend, Ronald Seaton, he has gotten along just fine with almost every one on the ship. However, the only crew member he has yet spoken to is the captain. Sly has heard the crew refer to the captain as "Leggy". The reason is pretty obvious when everyone sees that the captain walk around with a peg leg on his left leg.

Sly leaves the pail of water and walks over to a crew member. A kingfisher bird sitting on the starboard side of the ship doing his job of catching food. "So... Jack, what's the catch look like today?"

The bird pulls his line up for the day. "Ya'know, yer the only one that calls me 'Jack'. E'ryone else calls me 'Salty'." He picks up a pail of fish that he caught. "Not bad for a day's worth now, i'nt it?"

Sly smiles at the day's catch. "Well, 'Salty', you're a natural at catching fish. I couldn't catch a fish let alone a bucket full of fish in a day."

'Salty' Jack stands up with the pail at hand. "Thanks, boy. I'll be seein' ya around now." Salty leaves to go to the kitchen where the chef is awaiting the catch.

Sly feels good knowing that he is getting along with everyone. All except the old captain. Sly has only seen him around every so often. If Sly didn't know any better, he thinks that the captain is trying to avoid him.

* * *

Carmelita is, for once, taking her day off. She actually is taking a break. Without _him,_ catching criminals didn't feel the same. She feels as if she is losing her will to be a policewoman.

The vixen is taking a stroll to take her mind off of _you know who_.

As much as she wants Sly back, she feels insignificant in the seemingly never ending search for the raccoon. She does not know if there is anything she can do to find him. And to make things more difficult, she can't get Sly out of her mind. It's as if her sub-conscience does not want to forget him.

She can't lie to herself, she does not want to forget him. She misses him. She misses everything about him. She wants to see him again. The world feels almost empty without Sly in the world with her.

She misses his smile, his warm personality that could make any girl's heart waver, his unpredictable nature. Hell, she even misses the nights that they would rendezvous and he would flirt with her. She never realized that those little moments were the moments that she would cherish.

The anger, the exhaustion, the thrill that Sly gave her. Carmelita misses it all. It has been several months, but already it feels like an eternity.

She wished that there was a way that they could set aside their professional differences. If he wasn't a thief from the beginning she would make him hers and hers only.

It's such a pain when it is true that she never realized who she had right in front of her until he is gone. Despite her being hurt, she keeps her cool out in public.

The citizens and her colleagues around her see 'Old Ironsides'. But, hidden in her wallet is the charred photo that she found while she was investigating Sly's whereabouts. Everytime she gets the chance, she takes her wallet out and reminisces the days when Sly and Carmelita were together. Every moment. And every so often, she lets a few tears out.

* * *

Sly, along with most of the crew, are resting on hammocks and makeshift beds. Everyone is asleep except for Sly. He does not feel tired. He wonders if it is because of the drinking on the ship that helps these men fall asleep so effortlessly.

Sly gets up and out of his hammock. Cautiously, he tiptoes around the slumbering sailors to reach the hatch from above that leads to the upper deck. He undos the latch as quietly as he can. The latch clinks and clunks around, but the drunkards lay where they are. He opens the hatch quickly to avoid the squeaky sound that the unoiled hinges make.

He stand on the upper deck and closes the hatch to let the rest of the crew rest. He walks to the port side of the ship and rests his arms on the banister.

Thoughts are racing in his head. He knows that he should not be thinking too much. Thinking too much will make him miss things.

His head tilts down to look at the moon lit horizon.

All he can think about are his home, his friends, his world, his vixen. He misses everyone to dearly, but he misses Carmelita to death. He is willing to give anything in the world to be with her again. Although, that is easier said than done. He already tried to quit his thieving lifestyle to be with her, but he couldn't keep it up. It tears at his heart that he has choose between his way of life and the love of his life.

How could they ever be together? He is the cause of all of her problems at Interpol. If they ever crossed paths again, would Caremlita be willing to talk to him? Would she be angry? Would she be over him? Sly would cry if that were the case.

Before Carmelita and his friends got off of Le Paradox's airship, Carmelita went to Sly one more time. Her eyes were different. The usually cool headed or fiery tempered fox had eyes that begged for forgiveness. Sly could feel it in his heart that he knew what she wanted to tell him. He let her go letting her know that he understood her feelings and her sorrow.

Sly's acute hearing detects boots against the wood behind him. Sly puts his hand over his cane and turns around. He sees none other than Ron with squinting eyes and a hand rubbing his head. "I was about to drift away into slumber when I heard a speaky sound. Everyone else managed to go to sleep but me."

Sly smiles with some guilt. "Sorry, Ron. I couldn't sleep so I came up on deck to try and relax."

Ron rests his elbows on the banister to Sly's left. "I can see i' from a league away. You got a stuffed mind."

Sly takes a moment to understand what Ron says. The old English isn't as easy to comprehend. "You're right. I do have a lot on my mind."

Ron yawns and smacks his lips. "If i' ain't too much to ask, what was goin' on in that head o' yers?"

Sly should've expected such a question. "Nothin' much. Just thinking about my friends back at home. And a girl."

Ron lets out a soft hearty laugh. "A wench now? And let me guess, yer too superstious to let her on a ship. Ah, I heard it so many times. The 'woman on a ship is bad luck' thing." Ron lowers his volume and his head. "But, ya'know, ... there _is_ a wench out there that bodes ill omen for sailors like us."

Sly raises an eyebrow. "And who would _that_ be?"

Ron has eyes of stone. Frozen form movement. "Henriette 'One Eye' Cooper."

Sly's curious eyes widen in astonishment. Ron has heard of his ancestor! He has to see what Ron knows of her. "I've heard of that name. So what do you know of her?"

Ron slowly shakes his head. "Not a whole lot. Never seen her me-self. I've only heard stories. Damn, I don't even know if she's real or not."

From behind them, a deep masculine voice comes out. "She's real."

The two look behind to see Old Captain 'Leggy'. Sly finds an opportunity to make nice with the captain. "Well how'a doin', Captain?"

The captain doesn't make eye contact with Sly and only grunts. Sly lowers his brows in frustration. He wants to know why the captain dislikes him even when he hasn't gotten to know him yet.

The captain's peg leg makes a sharp wood-on-wood clunk with every step. "That Henriette Cooper is real alright." He looks to his left and to his right. "That wench is hell roaming the seas. Not even a pirate crew could escape her curséd ship. In fact, she's the reason why I got this." He taps his peg leg with the sheath of his cutlass.

Ron is thoroughly frightened. Sly can understand why. He wouldn't want to face anyone _that_ fearsome. But, at the same time he wants to find her desperately because she's the only ancestor that he can make contact with.

The captain raises his hand to Ron. "Ronald, you get back to rest now. Leave me and the raccoon some privacy." Ron does not disobey and heads back too the main deck with the rest of the crew. The captain waits for the hatch to close.

The captain is still with his head looking away from Sly. Sly decides to ask the captain a question. "Why have you been avoiding me? Everyone else on theship gets along with me just fine."

The captain turn his head around. "That's because they never saw anyone like you. They think that you're just another crew mate." He taps on his peg leg a few more times. "But, when I look at ya, all I can is that you look a lot like Henriette Cooper. I wonder if you two are related. I've never seen another raccoon in these seas."

Sly is astonished. Has the captain's instincts really caught on that fast? As much of an honest guy Sly is, he has to lie to stay on the ship. "I'm just a sailor, Captain."

The captain sighs. "Well, in that case, you should go and get some rest with the rest of the crew. We'll hit rough-ish waters tomorrow." The captain turns around and stops. "But, I'll be keeping an eye on you. I hope you ain't lyin'." He heads back to the wheel of the ship.

Sly heeds the captain's order and goes back to the main deck. He closes the hatch and heads back to where his hammock is just to find another crew mate had taken the spot. No other hammocks are open. He finds a quiet corner to sit down and rest. He tips his blue cap down over his eyes and tries to go to sleep.

* * *

Carmelita leans on the balcony of her apartment as she looks out at the horizon. The orange and yellow hues relax the fox. She is wearing her pajamas.

Her leisure time is interrupted by the sight of a blacked ringed tail hanging from the trees below. The figure darts from the tree to the adjacent building and starts running along the rooftops.

Carmelita is shocked. Could it really be him? She must know. While in her pajamas, she leaps a great distance to the nearest rooftop to bypass any other route to make up lost time.

The figure wields a cane that resembles Sly's. He runs with amazing grace as he jumps effortlessly over the obstacles in his way and isn't showing any signs of fatigue.

Carmelita almost can't believe it. Has Sly come back? She must catch him once and for all. But this time, she doesn't have the intention of letting him go away again. "Stop!" she yells to the silhouette of the figure.

After a few minutes of running, the figure comes face to face with a wall in his path and Carmelita is right behind him. Carmelita gulps air from running after him. The figure turn around and isn't even tired. Carmelita takes one last deep breath. Her eyes plead for the answers she wants. "Sly? Is that you?"

"I have no quarrel with you, Inspector Fox." the voice of Sly says. "Stay out of my business."

Carmelita's heart feels as if a needle has punctured it. "What? Sly, do you remember me?"

Sly's figure moves to the edge of the building. "I don't have to anymore. I'm through." He jumps off of the building.

Carmelita runs to the side of the building and looks down to see where he went off to. "Sly?!" she shouts to him. She can't find him. The streets are empty. Her body feels weak. Her body rests on her knees as her hands grip at her heart. "He is... through? What? ... Sly?" She lets tears flow out.

_...::::_

Carmelita's body springs up in her bed. The sweat on her body feels cold compared to her warm body. She rubs her eyelids and her hands feel her face to find moisture has fallen from her eyes while she slept. It was just a dream. She was in her bed for the whole time. She sighs some relief.

That dream. That nightmare. It was horrible. She grabs at her aching heart. She takes her pillow and hugs it tightly to help calm her down.

She admits it to herself. She wants Sly back more than anything. She wants him to be near enough to where she could always hold him. But, now that's impossible. The tears pour out as she gasps for air.

Was the dream trying to tell her something? Has Sly moved on? Does he no longer have feelings for her the way he used to? She pushes those thoughts away. She doesn't want to be hurt anymore.

She would go to the ends of the earth to just see Sly one more time. She needs him in her life. She knows that the only way to get Sly back is if she knows what time Sly is residing in so that Bentley and Murray can use the time machine. But what time is he in? Where is he? Can he survive?

If she ever saw Sly again, would he still love her as strongly as he used to? She's heard that absence makes the heart grow fonder. But, she can see that it can also make it forgetful. She hopes that Sly hasn't forgotten about her. Because she sure as hell hasn't forgotten about him. She wants to catch her thief again. But the next time she gets him, she won't let him go.

She wipes the tears from her face. Her head rests on the pillow around her arms. She feels the need to say it to herself to confirm what she thinks. "I love you, Sly. Te quiero aqui conmigo."

**I feel so bad for Carmelita! Of course, I mean for that to happen. I finally got around to drawing Ron and uploading my drawing to DeviantArt. My DeviantArt profile is called 'Nocturnal-Vixen'. Check Ron out! -Noshi**


	5. Land Ho!

**Chapter five. Sorry if this chapter took a while to update. I've been drawing a lot lately and some of my drawings are now on DeviantArt. Anyway, at first I didn't want this story to be too long, but with all that time I have been given I have a bunch of ideas that I want to put into this story. This story of mine might actually be something more than I first anticipated. **

**Disclaimer:****I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, characters unrecognized from any of the games are only for this story and are a product of my **imagination. 

Sly and the rest of the crew are all out on the upper deck. The sun is nearly done with its course for the day and is starting to set. The sky to the east is a cool mix of purple and blue while the west shows the warm sun's red and orange rays. There's a feeling of competitiveness in the air. The air smells of gunpowder and alcohol. A crew mate goes to the six wooden column pedestals and sets glass rum bottles on each. He then points to the crowd of sailors. "Ron! Mitch! Your turn!"

Ron and his competitor step out and each draw out their flintlock pistols and they rest their hands on their next pistol in their bandoleer They take aim at the bottles and wait. Sly is looking at the bottles to see who shoots first. The man that set the bottles raises a hand up. "Shooters, take aim!" The other sailors watch with anticipation. The man swings his hand down. "Fire!"

Ron fires the first shot and shatters the bottle to the right. His competitor fires at the bottle in the middle and makes a direct hit. Ron takes out his next pistol and fires it at the bottle on the left and makes a bulls-eye. The opponent is only millisecond behind. Ron takes out his last pistol and shoots the last bottle. Ron wins this round by a hair. Half of the crowd cheers for they have placed good bets on Ron. Sly didn't bet although he was rooting for Ron.

Ron walks triumphantly. He looks at all of his crew mates and lets out a hearty laugh. His laugh is cut short when he notices someone among the people. "Perch!? I thought yer supposed to be at the crow's nest!"

Fredrick 'Perch' Walsh, a monkey, gets really nervous. "Well I didn't see nothin' within a league or two in our direction. I thought we should be good."

Salty joins in the scolding. "But, what if there's another ship?"

The monkey gulps. "I... didn't think of that."

Sly jumps at the nearest rope and hangs. "No worries. I'll go to the crow's nest." He swings in a couple loops around the rope and lands his feet on the rope. From there, he leans forward and walks up the rope to the rear mast. He climbs up the mast and jumps up and lands in the top with little to no effort. He then places a foot on another rope that leads to the top of the main mast where the crow's nest is. He gets a firm foothold and begins to tightrope walk on the the rope. He makes it to the tall pillar that is the main mast and puts his hands around it. He climbs up the mast until he gets to the crow's nest . He jumps up and grabs the edge of the crow's nest and pulls his body up and in. He sees in the crow's nest that the telescope is left in it. He takes the telescope and extends it. He takes a looks through it. He scans a little bit to see if he can use it. The lens is a little scratched but it's usable.

He looks down at the crew mates with his new found telescope. They all have wide eyes and dropped jaws. Sly guesses that they've never seen anyone perform acrobatics before. Sly just just shows a thumbs up to let the crew know that the coast is clear for them to play. He then sit in the crow's nest and lifts his legs up to set them on the edge to rest them. He leans his body back and places his hands behind his head to rest.

His eyes wander the sky. He enjoys the ever large expanse of dark purple blending into the dark blue. The sun is only peeking out of the horizon and will soon leave.

The ship is on a course headed to the Caribbean islands. The ship has been sailing for two weeks. At the speed the ship is is going, he has no idea on how long it will take to reach the Caribbean.

He starts to wonder and think as his eyes search the newly star scattered night sky. How will he ever return to the time he belongs? Is he stuck here forever? The only connection to the present and the time he is in now is the Thievius Raccoonus. But at the moment, Henriette is in possesion of the book. But, from what Sly read in the family heirloom about her was that she traveled all over the world. How is he going to find her?

The problems and stress mount up. He has never felt this way before. An uneasy feeling overtakes his stomach. He is homesick.

* * *

Carmelita wakes up to the sound of the ever so hated alarm clock. She opens up her groggy eyes as she sits up on her bed. She rubs her eyes then stretches her arms out. She doesn't want to wake up. Especially to the world she lives in right now.

She gets out of bed and into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for the day.

_...::::_

Carmelita exits the steamy bathroom after brushing her teeth and a hot shower to wake her up. She walks over to her closet and opens it to reveal what she can wear today. She takes her usual top, coat, and skirt and takes it back to the bathroom to change her clothes.

She wastes no time and exits out of the bathroom, grabs her keys, wallet, and pistol, then walks out of the door of her apartment.

She closes and locks the door behind her and notices that the mailbox next to her door has an envelope in it. Cenvelopes takes over so she takes the envelope and reads the outside of it. _From the employees and staff of Interpol. __To Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox._ She hmphs and proceeds to open it. The inside contains only one note which she takes out and unfolds to start reading.

_You, Inspector Carmelita Fox, has caught criminals at an alarming rate with few to no breaks. By request from your fellow employees and collegues that are concerned of your well being, we at Interpol wish to grant you a week vacation from work. _

_P.S. We all know how you never accept these vacation notices, but we insist that you take this one. We are worried that you aren't getting enough rest._

Carmelita could believe her luck! The one day she doesn't want to work, she is given a break!

She feels energized already. She runs to her car and gets in quickly. She hastily fastens her seatbelt and starts the car.

She feels the need to say it so she holds it in no longer. "I'll find you, Cooper."

* * *

It has been around six weeks at sea as Sly sits on the crow's nest once again. The crew and ship is working as normal. It seems like they aren't near the Caribbean yet.

Sly has nothing to do since everything that requires to be clean has been cleaned. Nothing to do and it is still only noon.

Lately, it seems that Sly got a new job in the crow's nest. Ever since he showed off and raced to the crow's nest in record time, everyone insisted on making him the new man in charge of it. God, does he regret that.

He follows his schedule of checking the waters every hour and takes his telescope out. He looks out in the distance and scans the port and starboard side. Nothing in sight. The telescope returns into his pocket. He puts his legs up and kicks back and starts to relax.

He then hears wood creaking and feels the faint vibrations of the ropes connecting with the basin of the crow's nest. He looks to his left to he a monkey climb his way up. "Perch?"

The monkey climbs the rest of the way up. "Heya, Sly. I just thought that I'd take over the crow's nest fer ya. You seems to not want to do it anyway."

Sly sits up in his seat excitedly. "Really?!" The monkey nods. "Why, thank you very much, good sir!" Sly gets out of the crow's nest and Perch takes his place. Sly takes the telescope out of his pocket and hands it to the primate. "Here. You'll get more use out of this than I ever will."

Perch gladly takes the scope. "Thanks. Now get goin'."

Sly nods and smiles then jumps down. He lands on a rope and regains his balance gracefully. He walks down the rope down to the upper deck to join the rest of the crew.

Ron, who has just finished swabbing the upper deck in place of Sly, goes over to greet him. "Well, look who finally came down. Convenient how you came down the instant I finish."

Sly didn't realize what he made Ron do. "Sorry, Ron. Perch finally went up and took my place."

Ron places the pail down and bends his back to pop his vertebrae. "Ahh, it's nothin', Sly-ol'-boy. One day won't hurt me. Besides, if I can recall, we make port on the Caribbean in a leagues. So no harm, no foul."

Sly doesn't believe his ears. "Wait, what?"

Ron raises a brow. "I said 'no harm, no foul.'"

"No, no. Before that."

Ron cracks his knuckles as he processes the information. "If I can recall, we make port in a couple leagues?"

Sly points with satisfaction. "That was it! Do we really?"

Ron picks the pail back up and dumps the water over the side of the ship. He then sets the pail back down. "Well, we should. If not, it'd feel like a longer trip than usual."

Sly's excitement grows. But, one thing still riddles him. "What will we do at the Caribbean?"

Ron smiles. "You really are new to this, ain't ya? We're just gonna stay for a fortnight. It's a little longer than usual, but the crew has to break sometime, right? You'll catch on what to do when we make port."

Sly shrugs his questions off and just believes in what Ron says. He's never steered him wrong yet so why doubt him now? Just one more thing, how is he going to kill a couple hours? He looks around the rest of the upper deck to see that the floors are clean, the anchor is on board, the masts are on full sail. What is there for him to do?

He walks to the hatch, opens it, and heads down to the main deck. He sees that some of the crew members are packing wooden boxes with what's in the ship. He notices one of them to be Salty Jack. Sly sees that Jack is packing pistols into the wooden crates. He walk over to him to ask questions. "What are you guys doing?"

Jack doesn't stop packing. "Makin' ready to sell."

Sly is even further in confusion. "Sell? I thought these were ours."

Jack closes a finished box and grabs another to begin packing. "Not all of it. We don't really need these arms. But, someone else out there does. So we give it to 'em. With a fee, of course."

The information he just heard dispels a little of what he thought this ship was. These sailors are nothing more than honorable, seafaring, merchants. Not pirates, not killers, ... not thieves.

Sly looks at the pile of arms and ammunition ready to be packed. Salty is working on all of it by himself. "Do you need a hand with all that?"

Jack stops. "Sure." Sly grabs a crate and begins to load his first flintlocks in. He grabs a few more and load them in. Jack looks over into Sly's crate. "No! You put 'em in alternating. That way, we can fit a good dozen o' pistols into each crate."

Sly fixes his mess and continues as instructed. This may be a long couple of hours.

_...::::_

Sly packs the last box of pistols and adds it to the stack of full crates. He begins to wipe his sweat from being in the stuffy main deck until he hears yelling coming from the upper deck. His curious nature takes the best of him and he goes up the hatch. He hears Perch yelling 'Land ho'. The rest of the crew is crowding the head of the ship. He can't see over the tall sailors' heads.

He finds a rope that leads up the front mast and climbs up to see over the others. He looks over head and his arm suspends his body in the air. He blocks out the sunlight with a hand to see a thin but long stretch of land.

"See that?! What'd I tell ya?" Sly looks down to see Ron with a smile. Sly smiles too, to Ron and to the fact he will be on land once again.

The familiar clacking sound of the captain's peg leg signals the beginning of the commands and orders. "We make port in an hour or so! Let's get the merchandise on the upper deck to prepare! On with ya!"

The crew scrambles to follows the orders. One by one, the packed crates from the main deck surface to the light on the upper deck. The crates vary in size and weight. The minutes fly by as the crew does their share of work while the captain steers the ship to port.

In almost no time, the crates are ready to be unloaded and the docks are in sight. The sun is more than halfway through its journey across the sky.

The ship makes port and a man on the dock tosses up a rope to tether the ship to the dock. A crew member grabs and drags a long and wide wooden ramp to unload get the men down to port. The board is put down and another crew member goes to grab a crate to unload. The captain puts his arm out to stop him. "You may put that down, boy." The sailor does as he is told. "You all have worked hard to get us here." The crew is listening intently. "Tonight, you all earned the rest."

The crew explodes with cries of glee. Down the ramp, the sailors step on the docks. Sly is overcome with a sense of happiness and relief. It feels like an eternity since he's step on land. He feels the need to walk to get used to the still ground.

The entire crew walk down the docks to the port. An old English style town lays behind the port. Ron takes Sly by the shoulder. "Come on, Sly! We're headed to the good ol' tavern!" The crew cheers.

Sly walks with the crew to the tavern. Sly walk on the edge of the crowd. With every building he passes, he sees other sailors everywhere along with women. Sly, being easily seen from the crowd, is attracting attention from the women. Labrador and retriever girls look at Sly seductively.

Ron notices the women eyeing Sly. "Look at you! Reeling in lasses and you haven't even reached the tavern yet."

They reach the tavern and enter. Almost immediately the crew begins ordering alcohol by the mugs. The thirsty salty sailors quench themselves and Ron is no exception. The smell of alcohol makes Sly feel dizzy.

Sly escapes the tavern and starts gulping the air to clear his head. He decides to leave the crew to their fun. He'll find another place to get a drink. He begins walking from building to building looking for a less sailor filled establishment.

Once again, along the way he is gaining popularity in the opposite gender. Even the fanciest lasses are taking notice to him. He tries to stay calm as he looks for a place to relax.

He stumbles upon a quiet tavern. It seems to be good enough to kick back in. Sly walks into the tavern. The house isn't busy. He walks over to the bartender. He orders, "I need something to drink." Sly tries to act as the others in the tavern do.

The bartender returns with a mug of beer. Sly retorts a bit from the alcohol. "You got anything else?"

The bartender takes the mug by the handle and takes it from Sly. "Oh, you want the hard stuff?"

Sly immediately regrets asking for another drink. "No, nevermind! I'll just take it." The bartender hands the mug back. Sly places five shillings on the table and takes the drink and walks towards a vacant table. Despite the place being fairly quiet, it proves to be a tricky task to find an empty seat. He ventures into the darker end of the tavern.

Suddenly, he feels hands grab his shoulders. The hands turn him around to face the other direction. Sly is too startled to notice who is now in front of him. He regains his composure and looks at the person. Or rather, the woman.

It is a raccoon with long brown hair. Sly looks her in the eyes to find that she has an eyepatch over her right eye. He sees around her waist to see a dagger with a handle of the Cooper cane! He could barely believe his eyes or his luck. It's his ancestor, Henriette 'One Eye' Cooper!

Henriette's hand stays on Sly's shoulders as she takes another drink out of her bottle. She gulps down her booze as if it was water. She sighs a sigh of satisfaction. "I ain't e'er seen you 'round 'ere before. What's a handsome man like yerself doin' in a tavern like this now, ehh?" She leans in closer to Sly.

Sly nudges away from her a little bit. He then points to her bottle of drink. "Ma'am, don't you think that you've had enough to drink?" He wants to talk to her, but first he tries to talk some sense into her. It's obvious that she's drunk.

Henriette raises an eyebrow. "But, I only go to port e'ery-so-of'en! And this is good stuff now. I ain't about to pass this up! And I ain't about to pass 'you' up either." She leans back in towards Sly. Their faces are only centimeters apart. "Here, have a taste." She leans in a little more and kisses Sly deeply.

Sly's eyes widen. He is paralyzed in shock. The smell of alcohol nauseates him. He quickly snaps back to his senses and pushes her away. Their lips pop as they separate.

Henriette's eyes are only half open. She brings a hand up to her lips and giggles. Sly thanks his luck that the customers are too drunk to notice anything that is happening. Sly looks into Henriette's eyes. "Go back to your ship. You're drunk. Okay?"

Henriette looks into Sly's eyes with a playful smile. "Oh, but it's so lonely on the ship. Will you come with me?"

Sly has a bad feeling about where this is going.

**At the time of reading this, I am on summer vacation! Whoo! My apologies if it felt like this took a long time. Leave in the reviews what you think of it so far. **


	6. Agreements and Helping

**Chapter six. Where we last left off, the crew of the Ocean's Mistress have made port and are now enjoying themselves in a tavern in the Caribbean. Meanwhile, Sly is getting hit on by his drunk ancestor, Henriette 'One Eye' Cooper.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, any characters unrecognized from any of the games are for this story and are a product of my imagination.**

Sly and his intoxicated ancestor are out of the tavern under the night sky. Sly has one of Henriette's arms over his shoulders. She can barely walk straight. "Tell me where your ship is."

Henriette is still looking into Sly's eyes. "You have nice lips, ya'know tha'?" She puts her face up to Sly's cheeks and pokes her lips out.

Sly is getting an irked feeling the more Henriette tries to kiss him. He really needs to get through to her. "Can you please just tell me where your ship is?"

Henriette uses her arm that is around Sly's shoulder to pull him in closer. "Awright. But when we get there, you're gonna do me a favor. What say you?"

Sly is at a loss of options. "Fine, fine. Just tell me where it is."

Henriette smiles with satisfaction. "Avast! Me ship be a lil' o'er that'a way." She points in a general direction. Sly begins to drag his relative as she is messing up his walk with her stumbling. As they 'walk', Henriette mumbles to herself "I saw,... I got,... I get."

_...::::_

Sly and Henriette walk together along towards the beached ship. With the close distance, Sly can see the words 'Caribbean Queen' on the side of the ship. Henriette lifts her drunk head up and lifts a finger. "There she be! Beauty, eh?"

Sly lets Henriette go so she can get on board herself. Even while under the influence, she leaps onto a rope that tethers the ship to the sandy beach and walks on it in true Cooper fashion. She stands on board her ship and waves for Sly to move up. Sly follows her example and jumps and walks on the same rope that she did. He makes it onto the ship and finds Henriette still staggering to her quarters. "This way, boy," she says slightly slurred. He follows her into the main deck of the ship.

The few lanterns inside reveal a treasure trove of gold and shiny jewels. Among the riches, there are hundreds of guns. Pistols, blunderbusses, cannons and ammunition to spare. For all he knows, he could be in a war ship. He just keeps following Henriette. He grabs at his cane on his back just to reassure himself that it is still there. He looks back to where Henriette was to see she entered her quarters.

Sly would like to wait until later to talk to her, but he doesn't know when he'll get another chance to do so. What if he leaves and the next day she is out of the Caribbean? He makes up his mind after a minute of thinking. He walks to her quarters and opens the door.

He walks in and is about to close the door until he is slammed against the door shutting it violently. Henriette turns Sly around and pins him against the door. Sly can clearly see that she is wearing nothing more than her undergarments. The years of thieving gave her a well toned body. She leans in and presses her bosom against Sly's chest. She looks at Sly with eyes that only lovers should have. Sly is getting scared.

Henriette removes some pressure on him to let her put her arms around his neck. Sly leans his head to the right to look behind her. There is an empty bottle of booze laying on the floor along with her clothes. Henriette had another drink, felt warm, and took her clothes off, and now she is trying to get Sly aroused.

The pirate takes her hands behind Sly's head and pulls him in for a sloppy, alcohol odored smooch. Sly can feel her tongue feeling around his lips. Henriette separates the kiss and a strand of saliva connects Sly's lips to her tongue. Sly is beyond worried if this meeting has taken a toll for the worst.

"It's hot in here," Henriette says. "Will you... _relieve_... me?"

He close his eyes in horror. He feels as if she's going to do something again. He instead hears snoring and a warm weight on his chest. He looks down to find a passed out Henriette.

He thinks that perhaps tonight may not be the night for talking. He takes her slumping body and sits her down on her chair at her desk. He moves a few of the maps in the way and lays her head over her arms. He goes to the floor and grabs her upper body clothing and vest. He lays it over her back as a blanket.

Sly hurries out of the ship before the rest of the crew get back. He has to get back to his crew.

_...::::_

The next morning, the crew get started on work, which is much easier said than done for most of the crew that have hangovers.

He is assigned to assist Ron to deliver the pistol to a nearby arms dealer. They each haul their own load of three dozen pistols in wheel barrows. Sly has no clue where they are headed. "So,... who's the guy we're taking these to?"

"Some chap named Nicholas. He offered a good price for these arms," Ron replies while still pushing his wheelbarrow.

"How much?" Sly asks further.

Ron smiles. "4300 shillings for each of us! That's goin' t'be good earnin's for a day." Silence befalls on them for a moment. "So, Sly? You got back to the ship a wee late las' night. What'd you gone an' do while we's were at the tavern?"

Sly's stomach churns slightly upon remembering the events from the other night. "Umm, I'd rather not speak of it."

"Ahh, come on, ol' boy! You can tell me. Was it a lass?"

Sly feels that he can trust Ron. Sly can't shake the feeling that he should know who Ron is, but has never met or heard of such a person in his life. "Awright, I'll tell you if you don't tell anyone else." Sly looks to Ron to see him nod. "I... kinda... met Henriette 'One Eye' Cooper."

Ron drops his wheelbarrow and it clunks against the rocky ground. "Wha'? You're jokin' me!"

Sly gently lowers his wheelbarrow and shakes his head. "Nope. No lies." Sly remembers Henriette's drunken smooches. "And, trust me, she's every bit as terrifying as the legends say." He lifts his wheelbarrow back up. "Come on then. Let's get these guns to old Nick."

* * *

Henriette groggily wakes up. Despite her ridiculously painful headache, she can't go back to sleep.

However, she's had the most wonderful dream! She was at a tavern and she meets the most wonderful man she has ever came across. He carried her to the ship and got a few kisses on him as well. His lips felt like heaven to her.

The room feels a bit odd. It feels... drafty. She looks down to see her own body is half naked. She realizes that her dream was no dream. She was drunk... again. She frantically goes to her clothes that laid on the floor and puts them on.

If the man in her dream is real, then she can't leave the Caribbean yet. She has to find him!

She slowly opens the door of her quarters and peeks out and into the main deck. Her crew returned from their night out in the town. The men all lay where there are with bottles still in their hands. No one is awake. She quietly closes the door and walks quietly around the slumbering sailors. She opens the hatch and steps out onto the upper deck to find even more passed out men. The men must have been going all night while she was asleep.

She jumps off the side of the ship and lands on the sandy beach. She runs to the town.

_...::::_

Henriette stands on the roof of the clock tower. She looks over the town. The people look so small from where she is.

She sits down to relax. Her head is killing her. She rests her head on her hands.

The man she is looking for is all over her head. She feels the need to meet him again. Not that she wouldn't want to see him again. All she can remember about him is that he's a raccoon. Wait... raccoon? Since when has she seen another raccoon around these waters? She knows these oceans and seas like the back of her hand! Something does not make sense here. This only reignites her want to find him.

She pulls out her telescope to see if she can find him from up top. Among the many people, there is no chance she will see him. She stands up, pulls out a cloth from her pocket, and jumps down the incredible height of the clock tower. She throws her arms out to let the cloth catch air. Her decent is slowed and she parachutes down to a nearby roof.

She stays hidden from the public on the roof. She finds an adjacent building and descends to the ground while remaining hidden.

She looks out into the people. It is still early in the morning so there aren't many people awake yet. She scans around the buildings. No raccoon in sight. She curses and chooses to go check the shipping docks. Perhaps she might have a better chance to find him there.

She is about to head towards the docks when she witnesses two sailors with wheel barrows with crates in each one. She would normally ignore such a thing, but one of the sailors has a ringed tail! She gets out of the alleyway and pursues the male raccoon.

* * *

As the two sailors walk over to Old Nick's shop, Sly can't shake off the feeling that there is someone watching them. A feeling that Sly feels is supposed to be reserved for him.

Ron eagerly points to a shop. "Well, there's ol' Nick's store! Come on!" The two of them hastily make their way to the old man in front of the shop. Sly just follows Ron to help shake the feeling off.

They reach the door and Ron knock on it. The door is opened by an old English boar. "Eh? Whadd'ya want?"

Ron scooches out of the way to present the wheelbarrows full of crates. "Here are the arms ya ordered!" Ron says.

The boar opens the door the rest of the way. "Ah! Finally! I thought the shipment would never come!" He gestures for them to enter. "Well, go on then!"

Ron and Sly get to work and unload the crates quickly. They take each crate and carry them into the shop and Sly sets them down behind the sales counter where Ron sets his crates. Once all of the crates are in, they gather around the counter. Old Nick doesn't waste any time to get to the point. "So..., how much do I owe ya men?"

Ron rubs his hands together in anticipation. "That'll be one-hundred and fifteen guineas, sir."

The boar points his finger out of the door at the wheelbarrow. "How about I hand over a hundred and _twenty_ guineas I get one o' yer wheelbarrows? Whadd'ya say?"_  
_

Ron jumps at the opportunity. "Sure!" Nick counts the coins in front of Ron and hands it over. Ron puts the guineas in a burlap sack and ties it up. No other words are said between anyone. Ron exits the store and Sly follows with the only wheelbarrow they have left. Nick closes and locks the door behind them. Ron jiggles the sack of money with glee. "That was nice! I 'nly paid twenty pounds fer that wheel barrow and I just got a hundred guineas fer it! Talk about speculation."

Sly takes his wheel barrow and begins walking with it. "Let's just get back to the ship."

Ron catches up. "Aw, don't get yer knickers in a twist now, ehh! We got us a whole week to unload the cargo and the whole crew is pitchin' in to 'elp. Why no enjoy yerself a bit, ya'know? Hey! Speakin' of enjoyin' ourselves, why did you leave the tavern las' night?"

Sly isn't in the mood to talk about taverns and the sort. "Don't get me started. There was a bar fight waiting to happen in there," he says sternly. Lately, he hasn't been feeling like himself.

Ron chuckles. "Bar fight or not, there's always room fer another to enjoy the company o' his crew, am I right? Fine drink, fine men, and fine lasses."

Sly stops walking. He feels cold metal on the back of his head. "I got ya," the womanly voice say from behind.

"Speaking of company, we got some," Sly says while raising his hands up. The woman quickly grabs his cane out of the holster on his back. He turns around to see that it is Henriette Cooper aiming a pistol at him while examining his cane.

Ron turns around confused. Ron gets a look at the woman who is putting Sly at gun point. "Well, talk about a fine lass." He walks slowly to Henriette.

She shifts her pistol to Ron's snout. "You're not the one I want. But, I'll gladly send you to a watery grave if so be it."

Sly smiles. "Ron, looks like I can introduce you to Henriette 'One Eye' Cooper."

Henriette turns back to Sly. "Ahh, so it _was_ you that I met last night. First off, I would like to thank you fer carrying my weight back to my ship." Her face changes from calm to furious as she points her pistol at Sly's face again. "But, I would like to know why I woke up this mornin' in me undergarments!"

Sly is getting embarrassed. "Ron, could you give us some privacy?"

Ron scoffs. "What? And miss out on this?"

Sly is angered by his friends unwillingness to heed to his request. He turns back to an angry Henriette, which could rival Carmelita in fear factor. "I would like to make one point clear. _You_ took off your _own_ clothes and passed out drunk. You can't blame me for anything." Sly then points at his cane which is still in Henriette's hands. "Second, could I have my cane back?"

Henriette's facial muscles relax. She holsters the pistol back up. "I'll take yer word for it on the first point. But, this...!" She holds the cane forward. "What is this! Only a... Cooper... can have... this." She starts to get surprised. "This better not be any joke now. I swear, I will drag you to the depths of hell me-self if you're tryin' to dishonor the name of the Coopers!"

Sly takes the cane out of her hands and sets the shaft of his cane on the floor. "I'm not pulling off any joke here. I. Am. A Cooper."

Both Henriette and Ron's jaws drop. Ron is having the hardest time getting what he just heard. "So, wait. You two are related?!" Sly arms lower and rests and his head nods.

Henriette's face shows fear which then turns to disgust and then anger. She pulls Sly in and points both of their backs towards Ron. "Wha'ever happen'd in that tavern stays between us, awright?"

Sly is happy that the two of them are finally on the same page. "Don't worry. I'll try to forget about it," he says with a smile.

Sly is thrust with a hug from Henriette. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Oh, I could kiss you right now, but I guess that wouldn't help things would it?"

Sly's raises his eyebrows. "Wait. You believe me?"

Henriette sticks her lower lip out and searches for the words she wants to say. "More o' less. That cane o' yers is mighty fine and certainly fit for a Cooper!" She gets serious. "But, if you are a Cooper, I need your help."

Ron is amazed at this. "Oh, Cap'n Leggy'll be so surprised by this!"

Henriette quickdraws and fires her pistol near Ron's feet. Ron is frozen stiff. "Did you just say 'Cap'n Leggy'? Cap'n Paul? 'Leggy'? Gravelle?" Ron just nods to comply. Henriette puts her gun away and looks to Sly. "You are with the crew of Paul Gravelle?! You are a Cooper, a thief! Not some... pawn of the damn King of England."

Sly is growing frustrated. "Would it kill you to just listen to me?" Henriette takes his words and silences herself. "I have been looking for you for over a month now. I had to cross an ocean to get to you. And I only found you by chance! You said you needed my help, right?"

"Yes," She answers.

"Then maybe we can both help each other."

Henriette sighs. "What're ya gettin' at, boy?"

Sly puts the cane away onto his back. "I can explain if we get some privacy. Can we speak back at your ship?"

Henriette mulls the thought over while she taps her finger on her lip. "A'ight. We'll go. But, we must bring buddy-boy over there with us." She points to Ron. "I don't want him tattling on ol' Gravelle just yet."

Ron stop tiptoeing. Sly sighs. "Deal." He faces to Ron. "We gotta go, Ron." Ron walks to Sly while keeping an eye on Henriette to react at a moment's notice.

Henriette smiles. "Good, boy. Bring buddy-boy and try to keep up!" And, with true Cooper fashion, Henriette climbs the nearest pole and leaps to the nearest rooftop. She stands on the roof and wave for Sly to follow. Sly effortlessly climbs the pole and jumps to the rooftop next to Henriette.

The two Coopers look down to see Ron, who is dumbfounded. "Is there another way?"

Sly goes to the edge of the roof and bends down to extend his arm out to Ron. "Not at this point."

Ron sighs and grabs Sly's hand and helped up. When Sly turns around, Henriette has already jumped to two more rooftops. Sly runs and follows. "Hey, wait up!"

Ron shakes his head at how he got into this predicament then follows the raccoons.

* * *

Carmelita walks out of her office with all of the papers that she needs, Sly's criminal files. She closes and locks the doors behind her. She then puts the files into her shoulder slung bookbag and closes it.

A bellowing voice from behind her calls out to her. "Inspector Fox. In my office." It's Chief Barkley. She does as instructed and goes into his office. She takes a seat in front of her superior's desk. "This concerns everyone here in police headquarters, but I decided to ask you since _he_ was your constable. It has been a total of three months since I've seen Mr. Cooper. Might you know where he is?"

Carmelita has no time to think of lies. "I honestly don't know where he is, sir."

Barkley peers into her irises to find any hint of a lie. He blinks letting Carmelita know that he's found nothing. "Alright, Just let me know if he turns up again. We need him."

Carmelita's eyes widen. "We what?"

Barkley puts out his cigar and nods his head. "You heard me right. We, the force of the law, need Cooper. Ever since his recruitment into the force, the number of high ranking criminals getting caught has nearly doubled. And those numbers are seeing a drop again now that Cooper's missing in action."

This is news to Carmelita, and a hard piece of news to swallow. "Well, I'll just have to scold him when I find him for leaving his fellow employees. Good day to you, sir." Her final words before she heads out. She exits the Interpol building and enters a world of pouring rain. She runs to her car and quickly get inside to escape the many bullets of water from the sky.

Carmelita sits in her car as the raindrops pound on the roof of the car. She is on her second day of her break, but she's using her break for anything but to relax. She's tired of searching all of the obvious places that she can find clues to her raccoon. She pulls out of her coat the singed picture of Sly kissing her on the cheek. She lightly touches the right cheek as if he had kissed moments ago. Her heart yearns as the memories flood her mind.

But, what about Bentley and Murray? Have they gained any progress? She can't do this alone. She needs a team. Carmelita pulls out her binocucom and looks at it. The only device that she can use to contact the only criminals that can help. She turns the communicator on and looks into it. The other end just shows static for a few seconds. Suddenly, a familiar hippo's image appears. "Huh? Hello?"

"Murray, it's me, Carmelita. I need to speak with Bentley, ASAP."

Murray grunts as he sits up. "Sure. We're at Bentley's pad right now. Need me to pick you up?"

Carmelita doesn't want to step out into the pouring rain. "Could you just tell me where it is so I can get there myself?"

Murray's image switches over to the face of a familiar turtle. "Well I could tell you, but how do I know that you're not going to come in and arrest us?"

The vixen lowers her eyebrows. "I promise I won't arrest you guys. I need your help to find Sly."

Bentley rubs his chin as he mulls it over. "I know you've been investigating on Sly's whereabouts as we have been doing. I think we need to help each other at this point."

Carmelita is glad that they are on the same page. "Good, I agree. Now, could you tell me where your house is?"

Bentley sighs. "Awright, just don't tell anyone, okay? It's at Roosevelt Street. Just drive along the street until you find the plain looking house in the cul de sac."

Carmelita turns the keys to her ignition. "Roosevelt Street. Got it." With that said, she turns the communications off. She drives out of the parking and heads to the nearest Roosevelt Street she knows.

_...::::_

The light turns green and she drives forward along Roosevelt Street. She recalls that Bentley mentions a cul de sac. Only a about a hundred meters later, she ends up at a round dead end. She drives around and rolls her window down because the moisture is clouding up her view. She passes houses with lawn ornaments and bright colors. Quite funny given the current weather.

She hits the breaks when she sees a house with absolutely nothing in its lawn. In fact, there is no lawn! It's just pavement. But, the house seems ordinary and has a gate at the front with a button and speaker next to it. She rolls the window back up and grabs for her umbrella. She opens the door and steps out of the car. She opens her umbrella and holds over her head. It's not her fur she's concerned about, it's the files in her bookbag that she's trying to keep safe. She walks to the gate and presses the button. A long buzzing noise can be heard. The speaker turns on. "State your name and business," a nasally voice commands.

The vulpine just complies. "Inspector Fox. You know why I'm here."

Bentley's voice is heard from the speaker. "Oh, you made it! The gate'll unlock when you hear the buzz." The gate buzzes and Carmelita opens the gate and walk through. The gate automatically closes behind her, assumed locked. She grabs the gate and opens it. It's locked from the outside.

Bentley opens the door to greet his visitor. "Miss Fox! Let's get you out of the rain." Carmelita steps in and closes the umbrella. The inside of the house is as ordinary and plain as can be. Nothing is out of place and the place looks quite cozy.

She doesn't want to waste time. "If you don't mind, I'd like to get to the point."

Bentley raises a hand to silence her. "If you're here to talk, we must go down to where Murray is."

Carmelita raises an eyebrow. "Down?"

Bentley wheels over to a wall and presses a button. The wall opens up and reveals a large polished metal elevator. Bentley wheels his way inside and Carmelita goes in with him. The door closes and they descend into a place that little to no others have been in. When the door opens back up, it is revealed that they are no longer in the cozy atmosphere and they enter a large spacious laboratory. At one table nearby, Murray sits and enjoys a sandwich. Bentley wheels himself next to Murray and his wheel chair raises to the perfect position for the table. "Please sit, Miss Fox." She walks over and grabs a seat across the table and sits across from the thieves. "You said you wanted to speak with me, so I'll let you begin."

"Gladly." She grabs her bookbag and sets it on the table. "I want to find Sly. I can't do it alone and I fully accept that I can't do it alone. I need a help. I need a team to do this."

Bentley adjusts his glasses. "And you couldn't think of anyone else that would help you except us, right? Well I'll tell you, I'm glad that we are finally getting more help at trying to find our buddy. And I assume that whatever is in the bag may help us?"

Carmelita isn't surprised that Bentley is correct. "Yes." She opens the bag up and pulls out the files. "These are all of Sly's criminal files. I just got them. I'm sure that you can find a use for these."

Bentley sifts through the manila folders. "Amazing! You've got so many of our heists right here!"

Carmelita eyes around and sees a book floating around red light. Her curiosity gets the best of her. "May I see what that is?"

Bentley looks to what she is talking about. "The Thievious Raccoonus? Sure, go ahead."

Carmelita walks over to the dark end of the lab and the glowing red light. She cautiously reaches for the book. Her hands touch the warm red light and her finger grab the book and take it out. She looks at the book in her hands and tries to pronounce the title. "Thievious... Raccoonus."

She returns to the light and takes the book back to another table to leave the turtle to reminisce in his memories and to let the hippo eat in peace. She grabs another seat. She opens the book to a random page and sees a familiar face. It's Sly's ancestor from the Wild West, Tennessee Kid Cooper. She remembers him being gentlemanly, but he had too many rough edges for her liking. She grabs a few more pages and flips a few pages back and finds herself on Sir Galleth's section. The noble yet over confident knight Cooper. She realizes that this book is filled with the tips and tricks passed down from generation to generation in the Cooper family. She flips a few more pages and as she reads the more she learns about Sly's heritage. The more she learns, the more she sees how in touch with his lineage he is. It shames her to realize that she doesn't know much about her own family tree.

Bentley wheels to Carmelita and puts a hand out. "May I have that back?" She closes the book and returns it. The turtle takes the Cooper family heirloom and puts it back into the red light machine and the book floats in the air. Bentley turns around to face Carmelita. "So you came here to find a team? Well, we'll work with you if you promise not to arrest us in the process or don't give out our location to anybody. We need to be discreet if we are to work successfully. Deal?" He puts his hand out for a hand shake.

Carmelita shakes the hand. "Deal."

Bentley breaks the handshake. "Good. And now that you're here, I might as well ask you a few questions." He wheels back to the table with the files laying on it. "During all of our years of thieving, Sly never gave us any notion of ever wanting to quit. What got him into thinking of working for Interpol, and at the last moment?"

Carmelita remembers the events at Kaine Island as if it was yesterday. The heavy rain, the gigantic monstrous beast she had to deal with, finding Sly, ... Sly taking the blast and nearly killing himself for her. "I was at Kaine Island. The radio signals were reporting strange disturbances from the island so I when to deal with it with my mercenaries. When I got to the island, I was surprised to find Cooper there."

Bentley processes what he just heard. "You were at Kaine Island?! Were you the one that got to Sly before we did? Wait, if you found Sly, why didn't you arrest him? I saw Sly as free as ever!"

Carmelita plays the memories in her head. "He got hit. That doctor guy tried to shoot me, but Sly jumped in front of me and took the blast. The blast made him fly back. I took my anger out on the doctor-man then went to check on Sly. When I got to him, he asked me where he was and for who he was. I thought he had amnesia. Now I know he was lying." Her anger for Sly's lie makes her blood boil.

Bentley proceeds with another question. "But, why did he join Interpol?! If you were with him, you must,ve had something to do with his decision."

Carmelita is shocked at how close to the truth the turtle is. She hangs her head in defeat. "You're right. I did have something to do with it."

"Then what did you tell him?"

Carmelita waits a couple of seconds to recollect herself. "I... uh... kinda told Sly that he was my partner and that his title was Constable Cooper."

She waits to hear Bentley and Murray's yelling and asking her why. She hears nothing. Bentley just rubs his chin as he makes sense of what happened. "This makes sense now. Thanks for telling me. Now I know that his antics are partially your fault."

Carmelita's eye widen then her eyebrows lower. "What!? My fault? Cooper lied to me!"

Bentley flinches at her yelling. "Yes, but _you_ lied to him _first_. Which makes you just as guilty. Sly may be a criminal, but he would never hurt an innocent person. _You,_ on the other hand, tried to strip Sly away from everything from his past. Including us, his friends,... his family. How could you do that?!"

"Because I couldn't love a criminal!"

"Because you couldn't love a criminal? What malarkey is that? We may be criminals, but we have our rules. We never harm the innocent, never steal from the innocent, only steal from other criminals, and at the end we help the police catch the criminal! That's what Sly has taught us! Not how to steal, not how to fight. He taught us how to bring morality back into the world. That is what you couldn't love. I saw every time how Sly looks at you. You are his world!"

"How can you speak of Sly like this? How did you guys ever become so close? You treat him like his brother."

Bentley pulls out a file on Sly's past and puts his finger on a place on the paper. "Read that."

The line reads 'Orphaned at age five.' She gasps. "He was an orphan?"

Bentley moves the paper. "We all were. But, he became our family and we became his."

Carmelita looks to the Thievius Raccoonus and remembers his close his is to his family. "Then what happened to his parents?"

Bentley shrugs. "I don't know the details of it myself. Sly never wanted to talk about it. All he told us is that they were killed by the Fiendish Five."

Carmelita's head swirls. Thoughts in the back of her mind are trying to resurface, but to no avail. Murray picks up his empty plate. "I'll just leave you two to talk alone." he said sounding awkward.

Bentley lifts his glasses up and rubs his eyes then places them back. "It doesn't change the subject. Sly's decision is just as much your fault if not more."

Carmelita is growing angry. She's having a criminal tell her, an officer of the law, that something is her fault! She doesn't want to hear it anymore. She storms out of the lab and returns to the surface leaving an somewhat upset turtle. She grabs her umbrella and exits the house. The sky is still gloomy but the rain has stopped. She opens the front gate and gets into her car and drives off.

The thoughts hurricaned in her head. Is it really her fault? Should she be sorry? Does Sly think the same? She doesn't want to even imagine Sly accusing her. She just wants him back.

**Carmelita is finally getting a piece of her own medicine! The idea for making Carmelita guilty is from WebWalker756 on DeviantArt! So Sly and Henriette are teamed up now. What help does she need Sly for? Find out in the next chapter!**


	7. Beginnings of Adventure

**Chapter seven. If it seems that I haven't uploaded in a while, it is because my summer work is a thorn in my side right now. Where we last left off, Sly has agreed to help Henriette to gain her trust so she can help him back. Meanwhile, Carmelita, Bentley, And Murray are now working together in their search for Sly. All while Carmelita is starting to rethink some... things.**

******Disclaimer: I do not own Sly Cooper and its respective characters or plot. However, any characters unrecognized from any of the games are for this story and are a product of mine or someone else's imagination.**

Sly and Henriette make it to the ship with Ron panting heavily behind. The ship has many crew members. Most are laying about in the deck still deep in slumber. The ones that aren't asleep are already cleaning their mess from the night before. The crew members come in all shapes, sizes, and , unlike the Ocean's Mistress, genders. There are women sailors on board the Caribbean Queen. No surprise that Henriette is trying to promote gender equality in a world where women are meant to be inferior to men. Leave it to a Cooper to bring about change in the world.

Henriette walks to a female cat wearing knee high boots and a bandanna. "I gotta talk with a visitor. I'll take 'im to my quarters. I want ya to watch o'er the dog. Make sure he doe'n't leave the ship." The cat nods and grips onto her cutlass at the ready as she shift from looking at Henriette to Ron.

Henriette puts a hand on Sly's shoulder and he walks with her back to her quarters. Sly turns his head to see Ron being intimidated by the feisty feline as he walks with Henriette. He is lead into the familiar lower parts of the ship and back into the captain's quarters. Horrifying memories are budging to enter his mind but he doesn't allow it. He shakes his head and tries to act serious for once. He enters the room after his pirate ancestor. She walks over to her desk and pulls out a bottle out of her desk. Sly already begins to worry. "Umm, haven't you had enough?"

Henriette looks to Sly. "Ya thirsty? Ya like ale?"

Sly takes a seat in front of the desk. He cringes at the odor of alcohol. "You got any water?"

Henriette's lips form a frown. "Nope. We're dry outta clean water." She reaches in to take out another bottle. "How 'bout rum?"

Sly reluctantly picks the rum bottle up and takes a big whiff. He winces at the incredibly strong odor. "I'll actually take up your offer on the ale."

Henriette gives him the bottle of ale and Sly looks into the nozzle of the bottle. He sucks up his instincts and gives into his thirst. He takes a quick sip and swallows it immediately. He breathes heavily at what he just drank. Henriette takes a gulp of the bottle of rum that she took out. She looks at Sly's struggle to take a small sip and chuckles. "For a sailor, you don' drink much do ya?"

Sly can only find it both disgusting and amazing at her tolerance for the liquor. Sly wants to get to business. "So what favor do you have in mind for me?"

Henriette stops midway from taking another sip. She sets the bottle down and looks at Sly with a grin. "Ya sure ya up for 't?" Sly nods. Her grin changes to a sincere smile. Henriette takes a map out from a drawer in her desk and lays it out flat on the table. She points to a spot on the map. "Tortuga. I've some unfinished work in Tortuga." She backs away from the map to get his attention on her. "Ya see, I am actually one crew member short. I'm missing me first mate."

Sly is still attentive. "What happened to your first mate?"

Henriette takes her dagger out of its sheath and throws it at the wall behind Sly. Sly, shocked at Henriette's action, looks behind him to see a portrait of a male fox on the wall with the dagger now lodged in the bridge between the nose. The male fox is handsome and has a familiar air to him. Henriette pounds a fist against her desk in fury. "Tha' bastard is what happened to him! That Spanish land-loving admiral is goin' to hang my first mate, Belt-Buckle, in a fortnight!"

It starts to make sense on what Henriette wants. "So you want me to help you free your buddy before he gets hanged?"

A smile creeps its way across Henriette's face. "I like ya, boy! So will ya do it?"

Sly doesn't have much choice. "Yeah, I'll help you."

Henriette stands up from her chair in a cheery mood. "Great! We leave for the godforsaken Tortuga tonight!"

Sly is surprised by her readiness to get moving. "Hey, hey! Tonight? But, I..."

"No objections, boy! You agreed to this and I won't take 'no' for an answer, ya'hear?" Sly is intimidated. He really has no other options. He nods to comply. "Good! Now get outta here and go make nice with the rest of me crew!"

Sly scrams out of the quarters out of fright. He then pays attention to what is in front of him, a female crew member. "Oh my," he says out of reaction.

The girl, a dog with a trim body, step closer. "This is a first for the cap'n to bring such a handsome man back with her. I heard what she said, you make nice with us, ya'hear?" she says in a smooth voice.

Sly isn't intimidated, but rather thinks this act to charm him is cute. He puts a hand under her chin and brings her face closer to his. He looks into her eyes. Her eyelids lower as she is being charmed. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I should go meet the rest of the crew shouldn't I?" Her eyelids lower as a silly grin spreads across her lips. Sly lifts her chin up and walks away leaving a girl to sigh over her encounter.

Sly exits out of the main deck and takes a step onto the upper deck to see if Ron is okay. He greeted by a pack of more girls. "So this is the man Cap' brought back, huh?" one girls says.

"Is he gonna be in our crew?" another girl asks curiously.

Sly is surrounded so he looks around for a way out. He sees a rope from the main mast above him just out of his reach. He ignores the bombardment of questions thrown at him and grabs for his cane. He quickly hooks the cane to the rope and climbs up and swings around to stand on the mast. He brings his cane up and sits on the log above the girls. "Nice to meet'cha girls! I'll be uh... accompanying your crew to Tortuga. I just ask for what happened to my friend, Ron."

"O'er here, Sly!" Ron's voice yells. Sly looks over to see his buddy hanging scarecrow-style.

The cat is standing next to him. "Sorry, handsome! This one kept tryin' to get away!"

Ron is exasperated. "I just wanted a drink! These girls together are tough as nails."

The kitty stretches to get more awake. "That we are." She turns to face Sly. "Did I hear you say that you're coming with us?"

"Yeah," he assures her.

The pack of girls celebrate briefly. "Oi! Will ya girls keep it down! I got a headache!" a male voice cries. A wolf with his eyes half open and a hand rubbing his head comes stumbling on the deck.

Sly looks at him and raises a hand to him. "Hiya there!"

The sailor takes his hand off of his head. "Ehh? Who's that?" The man looks to his left and to his right without seeing anyone except his fellow crew mates.

Sly is disappointed at the man's obliviousness. "Up here. On the mast."

The man looks up to see Sly. "And who are you? Some visiting land-lubber?!"

"He's a new crew member! Don't you pick a fight with him now!" Henriette's voice booms from the hatch. "He's my relative! If anyone messes with him, you mess with me, got it?!" Everyone awake nods and everyone asleep is now stirred from slumber. "Good. We are leaving for Tortuga at dusk! We're getting Belt Buckle back! I need everyone up and getting work done on the ship immediately! Now! Move!" The awake crew members frantically go to the half awake ones and help them up.

Sly is glad of the opportunity to come back down. He goes to Ron and takes him down from his stand. Ron shrugs his shoulders to loosen his body back up. "Ahh! Thank you. These girls are feisty."

Sly places a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Yes they are. I fully understand if you want to leave."

Ron's eyes light up with a childish glee. "Are you joking?! I'm coming with you! An adventure, a ship with spirited lasses, one being the captain, and a chance to see Tortuga?! I'm not gonna miss out on this!" He pats Sly on the shoulder and leave to walk among the scrambling pirates.

Sly's jaw drops at Ron's answer. He is flabbergasted but shakes his head to get himself together. He walks towards his ancestor. Henriette stands in akimbo overseeing the busy ship. Sly walks up behind her. Henriette smiles at her newest subordinate. "I saw you got along well with me girls. I bet'cha they'll be messin' with ya all along the way."

Sly sheepishly smiles. "Yeah, I get that a lot. I've still yet to get used to it." Sly recalls Henriette's wake up speech. "So... we're going after your first mate... 'Belt Buckle'?"

Henriette sighs. "Aye, and you can ask him why yer'self once we break him out." She crosses her arms and sternly turns to Sly. "I'm still trying to believe that another Cooper is helping me. Are you a distant relative?"

Sly realizes that he forgot to mention that he is from the future. "Uhh, yeah. Pretty distant." He urgently want to pass on the subject for later. "So do you have a plan of action for busting him out?"

Henriette sighs. "No. I can't make a plan without seein' the place first. We'll know what to do when we get there. What, do you have a plan?"

"No, I don't make plans. I like to improvise though." Sly can't lie for this question.

Henriette give him a pat on the back. "Haha! Yer a Cooper, awright! Thinkin' on our feet is what we do best."

Sly smiles at his ancestor using his line. Perhaps he was not the one that coined it. As he looks at the crew working together, he can only be reminded of how his little outfit was able to work together. Another pang of homesickness hits him in the gut. He knows he shouldn't think too much about that, he has to focus on the task at hand. "So when do you think we will be setting port at Tortuga?"

Henriette licks her finger and holds it in the air to find the wind direction. "With favorable winds, we can make full sail and be there in a week. But we're not making port."

Sly is confused. "What? Not making port?"

Henriette inhales. "It's too risky. Vulpe will have all of Tortuga's ports blocked off to make sure no one will interfere with his plans. He'll especially have an eye out for me in particular."

Sly's mind sparks another question. "Vulpe. Could that be the name of the fox you showed me? And what does he have against you?"

Henriette nods. "You catch on fast, boy. Yes, that be him. Iñigo de la Vulpe, ... bastard." Henriette takes her hand off of Sly and crosses her arms. "As for what he has against me,... I, uh, ... we don't really see eye to eye on a lot of things."

Sly isn't going to push the conversation any further. She obviously doesn't want to talk too much about this. "Well, I might as well see if the crew needs any help."

Henriette smirks. "Aye, you go do that."

Sly walks among the working men and women and looks for Ron to keep him out of trouble with the girls. Henriette stands overhead and begins thinking.

* * *

Carmelita spent an almost sleepless night. She stays awake wearing her pajamas. Too much is flying in her head to even think about slumber. All that she can think about is Sly. But, her heart feels bittersweet.

The policewoman in her wants to see justice for all who have been wronged, including herself. But, a new feeling has arisen. A feeling very new to her. The feeling of guilt. But, why? Why is she guilty? She hasn't done anything wrong, did she?

She walks to the kitchen and pours a mug of coffee. It is the only thing that is calming her tightly wound nerves at the moment. She takes a warm sip and walks to the couch. She sets the mug on the coaster on the table in front of the couch and takes a seat.

Guilt. A feeling that is reserved only for criminals to feel. Her thinking mind starts to ask questions that only lead to more questions. What makes a criminal a criminal? Breaking the law. How does someone break the law? When it is violated. What is a violation? To inflict wrongdoing upon others.

Wrongdoing to others. She remembers the day when she lied to Sly at Kaine Island. Did she inflict a violation to Sly? Does that make her a criminal? Where does she stand in their relationship?

During the misadventures with the Cooper Gang, she saw something. Something in Sly. She saw passion in his eyes. Not for seeing the items he steals, but rather from knowing that who he stole from is served justice.

For the first time in her life, her black and white view of the law is slightly blurring. She shakes her head at the thought of there being a thin line between right and wrong and tries to talk her self out of her thoughts. Sly may be respectable but there is still such thing as crime. Everyone deserves justice.

She hears a beeping sound coming from her bookbag that is laying on the couch. Out of annoyance, she gets out of her chair and grabs the bookbag. She opens it up to see what is beeping. It the binocucom. Carmelita grabs the binocucom and answers it by putting it up to her eyes. She sees Bentley with eyes of a person that has seen something incredible. "Bentley?"

Bentley is on the verge of hyperventilating. "It's Sly! Hurry to the hideout!" The binucucom's image turn to static when Bentley cut off.

Sly?! Could they have found him? Without another thought she grabs her keys and heads out to her car in her pajamas.

_...::::_

She parks her car where she did last time, outside of the house. She gets out of the car and rings the buzzer. "It's me, Carmelita." She hears the buzzing and opens the gate and enters the house.

A frantic turtle already has the elevator ready to go. "Come on! We have no time to waste."

Carmelita fully understands and enters the elevator with Bentley. The elevator goes down and Bentley is rubbing his temples. Once the elevator ride ends, Bentley heads out the door and straight for the Thievious Raccoonus that is resting in its electronic pedestal. Bentley grabs the book and flips the pages. He finds the page he needs and wheels his way to a table. Murray, already being in the hideout just moments before, is already sitting at the table.

Curious as to what page and what Cooper ancestor he turned to, Carmelita walks to the table and leans forward to see the page he turned to. To her surprise, it is a female Cooper... with a missing eye. Bentley points to the picture of the Cooper. "This is where Sly is."

Carmelita doesn't understand nor is convinced. "That doesn't tell us much."

Bentley turns a few more pages to find a journal entry made by the Cooper. "Here, it reads: 'Never in my life did I think I would find a distant relative of my own. I know not of whether this kin is genuine or not, but he bears the cane of our clan. He weaves a convincing tale of who he is though he doesn't tell me much. His name is Sly Cooper and he is my way in to break out my first mate.' Do you see?! Sly is in the year 1615 with his ancestor Henriette!"

Murray, with his usual go to attitude, cracks his knuckles. "Well, whada' we waiting for? Let's get our buddy back!"

Bentley is fast with the answers. "No can do right now, Murray. We don't have anything to put into the time machine that'll bring us to the time or place. "

Carmelita gets an idea. "Why can we just throw the journal entry into the time machine? Wouldn't that bring us to the perfect time and place we need?"

Bentley brings two fingers up to rub his brows. "Unfortunately, we can't. I've already tested that out with regular paper and the receptical will just burn it into ashes before it even starts working. We need a solid, non-combustible object."

Murray slumps in defeat. "Bummer. I thought that Carmelita had a good plan too."

Bentley smiles to his friend. "Well, I still know of an object that will work and will take us to the same era." His wheelchair extends out and lays a flat laptop in front of him. He opens the laptop up and turns it around to show the other two a photo of an old wheel-lock pistol.

Carmelita's mind starts piecing information together and recalls seeing that exact pistol. "Hey, I've seen that before. It is in the museum in Gentilly just outside of Paris. I patrolled there several times."

Bentley has an inquisitive look. "Then you must know your way around that museum, right?"

"Yes, I do. Don't tell me..."

"Carmelita, you have to! You're the only one that can be our field-person. Plus, you can find a way in and out with your knowledge of the area. You are our only hope to getting Sly back!" Bentley begs.

Carmelita is appalled by the idea of herself becoming a thief. She crosses her arms and turns her back towards the gang. "I refuse."

Bentley is persistent. "But, it's the only way! And I know that you want Sly back just as badly as we do. Please, Carmelita. Don't think of it as thieving for crime. Think of it as saving a friend."

Carmelita's heart twists at the thought of Sly and her being just friends. She still has yet to know of where she stands with their relationship. Bentley is right, she wants Sly back more than anything. If she could just hold him and never let him go, she would be satisfied. But will he be happy to see her? Does Sly think that she is the reason for him joining the law? Her impatience grows the more the questions linger. She makes up her mind and turns around arms still crossed. Bentley puts a hand out on the center of them. Murray places his hand on top. The two look at Carmelita for her response. Carmelita rolls her eyes at her defeat and places her hand on top.

Bentley's and Murray's faces glow with happiness. Their hands separate and Bentley is thrilled. "Great! We are headed towards Gentilly!"

Carmelita wonders if she has made the right decision.

**Well I certainly think that She's made the right decision. So Sly and Carmelita are gearing up for missions of each of their own. And in the Caribbean, there is a new name in town. Vulpe. Vulpe is a character that is created by WebWalker756 from DeviantArt and there will be many more new characters to come! Muahaha! Please tell me, how am I doing? Feedback makes me more encouraged to write more.**

**P.S. The title of the story is subject to change. I will let my readers know several chapters ahead of time of what the new title will be.**


	8. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

* * *

At the time of uploading this, I am almost done with my second week back to high school. I have lots of homework and stuff to do and it doesn't give me much time to do my hobbies, especially writing and drawing.

To the people reading this, know that I am still writing my stories and will get back to them ASAP. It has just been made harder to do so with such an obstacle in the way so it may take a long while until I can get chapters out.

Until then, please enjoy the chapters that are already out and don't forget to review. Reviews seem to encourage people to write more and I guess I'm no exception to that. Just know that I value every bit of feedback very highly.

Until next time! ~~~~


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